Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone insists he is just a ‘blue-collar American’ who loves to fight.
But the truth of the matter is; victory over Conor McGregor on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas will set the Colorado-native up for life.
Cerrone was selected as the perfect opponent to welcome ‘The Notorious’ back to the octagon at UFC 246 after a 15-month hiatus.
Although the American is on a two-fight losing streak, those who believe this is merely a tune-up fight for McGregor would be foolish to disregard Cowboy’s ability.
The 36-year-old holds the records for the most wins and most finishes in UFC history and will be competing in his 50th professional MMA fight on Saturday night in Sin City.
Having only started MMA training at the age of 20, it is testament to the durability and perseverance of the former lightweight contender we see him continuing to fight at the top level.
The danger for Cowboy is clear – fighting a motivated and hungry McGregor could be a nightmare. The Irishman tore through the featherweight rankings in 2015 before picking up the lightweight strap 12 months later.
His knockout power and main event pedigree mean Cowboy will have to be switched on from the first bell, this will be vital given he has been accused of being a slow starter.
But the veteran of the octagon has a plethora of ways to beat McGregor, especially at welterweight.
Below, talkSPORT.com breaks down the fight and examines why assuming ‘The Notorious’ will have an easy night’s work would be a foolish mistake.
Conor McGregor works out at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas
Takedowns
Cerrone has already admitted he wants to meet McGregor dead in the centre of the octagon so the pair of them can have an all-out brawl.
Such is the bravado and resilience of Cowboy few would bet against the American from coming out with his hands held high charging forward into the fire.
But the 36-year-old has one of the most accomplished ground games in the world and his takedown offence is extremely good – especially against pressure fighters.
Cerrone is unorthodox when he goes for takedowns, often applying pressure and his weight onto the back leg of his opponents in order to complete the transition to the ground.
This works well against southpaws as he can drive the opponent to the canvas and effectively collapse them onto themselves as he pushes his head effectively onto the ‘wrong side’.
In fact, former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre believes this represents the key to victory against an opponent who very rarely takes fights to the ground, unless he is chasing a downed opponent.
“If it’s a quick fight, it’s going to be McGregor,” St-Pierre said on the Tristar Gym YouTube channel. “If it’s a long fight, it’s going to be Cerrone.”
“It depends if Cerrone comes and tries to grapple because he’s got (a) very, very good ground game. His ground game is very underrated.
“I’ve trained with him before and he’s got good takedowns. He’s very explosive to shoot the takedown. People don’t know that because he doesn’t use it much.
“He used it against Patrick Cote. But if he does that, to weather the first couple of minutes of the storm and McGregor’s powerful left hand, I think he can get it.
“I think if he wrestles (in) Round 1, I think he has a good chance to win. But if he tries to play a boxing game, karate game, with McGregor, McGregor will tag him and knock him out.”
Submissions
If Cerrone can get the fight to the deck, his chances of securing the victory become all-the-more clear.
Of his 36 victories inside the cage, a whopping 17 are by submission and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu game is deadly.
Even if Cerrone is on his back, he has shown he can get his opponent to tap. His armbar against Mike Perry was a perfect example of scrambling well to secure a finish.
However, it is his use of chokes which will surely be perceived as the greatest danger by Team McGregor.
Be it a triangle choke from the bottom or a rear naked choke from the back, Cerrone has the ability to finish a fight from any position he finds himself in and this is perhaps no more pertinent against a fighter like McGregor.
The Irishman boasts a respectable 70% takedown defence in the UFC, but his four losses in his professional career have all come via submission.
Size
Given he attempted a run at welterweight earlier on in his career; it is no surprise to learn Cerrone is the naturally bigger man in this fight.
Standing at 6”1′, he was always a big lightweight – yet never quite big enough to make a splash at welterweight.
However, he will seem the far bigger man in the octagon on Saturday night given McGregor is just 5”9′ in comparison.
This also means Cerrone can use his frame and size to literally weigh down on the Irishman in the clinch battles. McGregor is a master at keeping range, but has faded in the past when caught in a grinding battle against the cage.
Against both Nate Diaz and Khabib Nurmagomedov he faded drastically after being pressured back into the fence as he worked desperately to get back to a standing range.
If Cowboy can close the distance quickly against a striker who slips seamlessly in and out of range as McGregor does, he limits the damage the left hand can do and can effectively tire the smaller man out.
Kickboxing
With a record seven head kick knockouts in the UFC, Cerrone has one final – albeit devastating – method to finishing the fight.
His kickboxing ability is second to none and his kicks to opponents’ heads have left plenty of opponents dazed and confused after introducing his shins to their cheekbones.
We mentioned clinch work briefly above and the knees and elbows he can throw from that range are deadly as well.
During his battle with Robbie Lawler on the undercard of Diaz vs McGregor 2, Cerrone exhibited a beautiful display of close range strikes.
But it is his work from distance which could cause McGregor problems. The Irishman has never been knocked out in his career, but was rocked for the first time in the UFC by an unorthodox strike by Khabib Nurmagomedov in his previous contest.
Cerrone disguises his head kicks and lands them from positions which may not seem comfortable, but the work before sets his opponents onto the head kick.
His finish of Rick Story is still celebrated to this day for the technical ability on display and will undoubtedly be included in the highlight reel for his eventual Hall of Fame induction.
Even if he throws tentative jabs to the head or body of McGregor, he manipulate the Irishman to move into the powerful kick.
